Back from Beyond
by boombangbing
Summary: It's ten years after Voldemort's downfall, and the trio have gone their separate ways. Ron and Hermione have each become successful in their jobs, but Harry has sunk into a depression. One day, he see's someone who should have been long dead. Someone,
1. Insomnia

**Disclaimer: You know what I'm going to say, I don't own Harry Potter, that would J. K. Rowling.**

Harry Potter was dreaming, he did that alot these days. He dreamt of many things, but this was the most frequent, and most upsetting of them. In this one he was standing in an endless void, darkness as far as the eye could see. The only break in that darkness was a shock of red directly in front of him. It was a woman, her back to him, her long red hair tied back into a neat bun. Harry tried to walk forward but found he couldn't, as he did every time. He held his hand out, trying to reach out to her, but every time he did, she seemed to be further away. He called out to her;

"Ginny! Ginny!"

Her head moved slightly, as if she had heard him.

"Ginny!" He yelled again.

She was turning so that he could just see the silhouette of her delicate face, when he felt a sharp pain on his arm. He felt the familiar sensation of being pulled away from his dream world.

"No! I don't want to go!" He screamed, but it was to late, he was already back in his bed. His eyes snapped open, and he saw the source of his pain. Hedwig was perched on his arm, pecking at his skin. He had forgotten to open a window, and she wanted to go out and hunt.

"Get away from me!" he shouted, shooing her away.

She flew off, hooting in an offended sort of way. Harry tried to go back to sleep, but he was too wound up, and anyway, he rarely managed to sleep after a particularly bad dream. He kicked his covers off and quickly dressed in the first set of robes he found. He went downstairs noisily, forgetting where he was, and suddenly a bloodcurdling scream filled the hallway. He turned to the offending object, whipped off the tattered velvet curtain and faced the portrait of old Mrs Black.

"Blood traitor! Filthy half-breed! Squatter!"

"Just shut up, you horrible old woman!" he screamed equally as loudly.

"Harry Potter shouldn't speak to mistress like that, no he shouldn't..." A quiet voice said behind him.

Harry turned around,

"Kreacher," he said menacingly, "Go stick your head in the oven and don't take it out till I get back."

Kreacher ground his teeth together, "As you wish." he hissed.

Harry watched as Kreacher slunk away, mumbling just loud enough to be heard.

"Filthy Muggle-loving... One day I'll..."

Once Harry was satisfied that Kreacher had indeed put his head in the oven, he left the house. He walked out into the cold morning air, it couldn't have been more than three or four in the morning, and the streets were empty, just the way he liked it.

Ron Weasley stared up at the ceiling of his bedroom, hearing the thumps and wails of the ghoul above him. He had slept all of three hours, and now found it impossible to drift off again. He got up and put his work robes on. Since his promotion to Assistant Magical Crime Investigator at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he had to look the part. That meant spending most of his pitiful wage on new robes every couple of months. These ones were navy blue with gold trim. He fiddled with them for a bit, adjusting them and then went down to the kitchen. He flicked his wand and a bottle started pouring milk into a bowl of cereal. He picked it up, and sat down at the table. Since it was too early for the Daily Prophet to be delivered, he just stared around the kitchen. He hated this, when he was the only one up, and the house was quiet. He hated living in this house, the memories were so strong here. He sighed, life had not turned out the way he thought it would. He quickly finished the first of his breakfast, grabbed his work things, and apparated to the Ministry. Even at this early hour, the Ministry was buzzing. Sleep-deprived workers hurried across the main hall, and got in and out of the lifts. Ron ran over one of those lifts and slipped in as the doors were closing.

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement, level two." he said, batting fluttering paper aeroplanes away from his head.

"Going down." a female voice said pleasantly.

For the first three floors Ron was completely alone in the lift, then on the fourth floor the golden grille rattled open. A young man around Ron's age stumbled in carrying a pile of papers so large that Ron couldn't actually see his face.

"Hold the lift!" he yelped, trying to balance all his papers.

"Don't worry, I am." Ron laughed, reaching over and taking some of the man's burden.

"Thanks..." the man trailed off when he caught sight of Ron.

Ron stopped smiling immediately, "Oh, it's you," he said, surveying the blond-haired, grey-eyed man.

"Malfoy. What are you doing here so early? Trying to get in the Minister's good books?"

"No, just - just working. These are for you actually."

"Are they really?" Ron said, leaning over to look at them. He put his hand on top of them, and pushed them gently.

"Oops, look what I did, that'll take a while to clear up." he said, as hundreds of documents crashed to the floor. "This is my stop." he smirked

He hopped out and started to walk away.

"Oh, and Malfoy? Remember to bring me my morning coffee, there's a good man."

Malfoy looked up from amid the papers, and smiled thinly, "Ofcourse... sir."

Unlike Harry and Ron, their former best friend Hermione Granger hadn't even been to bed that night. She was currently serving tea to some very shady people, specifically Death Eaters. Ofcourse, they didn't know she was Hermione Granger, former Gryffindor. They thought she was Suzy Smith, short, blonde, slightly ditzy tea-girl. Hermione was doing research, on a potentially explosive exposé on the secret groups of Death Eaters reforming after Voldemort's death, for Witch Weekly. She'd been on this assignment for two months, and other than finding out that Death Eaters were a creepy bunch (which she already knew) nothing interesting had happened. She wasn't allowed in when they were talking about important things, and she knew something was going on. She occasionally heard whispered about some witch who would be very important in the Death Eaters plans.

"Well, I'm going to head home." she said to another of the tea-girls, her voice sounding horribly high-pitched to her own ears.

"Okay, see you later, Suzy."

Hermione quickly exited the unplottable headquarters. After a full six hours there, she was relieved to be able to go. It made her feel dirty just being there. Once a suitable distance from the building, she apparated home, a small one bed flat in London. She went straight over to her floor length mirror and watched as her hair started to turn curly and brown. Once she was fully Hermione again, she breathed a sigh of relief. She pulled off her black robes, and changed into some purple ones. She sat down at her desk and pulled out her book of notes, and set about writing her findings. Half an hour in, Crookshanks came in and curled up on her lap, happy to have his mistress home.

Harry walked down yet another street, his hands firmly in his pockets, his head down. The area was starting to fill up, and he was heading back home when he saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye. He glanced up and saw a woman with red hair. His stomach did a somersault.

"Ginny!" he yelled, but she ignored him and hurried on down the street.

He gave chase, plunging through the crowds of early morning shoppers. He called again.

"Ginny!"

After that he lost sight of her, and wandered around searching for her. He was just starting to believe that he had imagined it, that he simply hadn't had enough sleep, when he saw her again. This time he didn't call, but quickly and quietly followed her. She walked in a nervous manner, looking up at any noise. Harry knew that if this woman wasn't Ginny, and if he was just stalking some random woman, that he would be scaring her alot, but at this point he didn't care. She went down an alley way, with Harry was close behind. He quickly approached her as her back was turned.

"Ginny." he said softly.

She jumped, and whirled around. "What do you want?" she yelped.

Harry was lost for words, it was her, it was Ginny. Ginny, who was supposed to be long dead, was standing right in front of him.

"I-I..." he started, but she didn't give him a chance to finish. She shoved him out of the way, and took off back out into the street. By the time he had regained his balance, she was long gone, and even though he searched for the best part of three hours, he couldn't find her. Eventually he decided to go home. He had to tell someone about this, and right now he could only think of one person.

It was now 7.30am, and Hermione was just finishing her notes, when she heard tapping on her living room window.

"Hedwig!" she exclaimed, opening the window, "It's been so long since I've seen you."

Hedwig hooted a couple of times and dropped a crumpled piece of paper into her hands.

"Thank you. I've got some bread, would you like some?"

Hedwig flapped her wings, and flew into the kitchen. Once Hermione had seen to Hedwig's needs, she sat down and unfurled the letter.

_Hermione,_

_I've seen her. I've seen Ginny! She isn't dead! I knew she couldn't be, I just knew it. We have to do something. I tried to talk to her, but she didn't want to. In shock, most probably. What do I do? Please write quickly._

_Harry._

Hermione sighed. She thought this might happen one day. He'd finally snapped. Slowly, she picked up a quill and piece of parchment, and started writing her reply.

_Harry,_

_How are you? It's been too long. Have you been going to that psychologist I gave you the name of at St. Mungo's? She really is very good. She can help you work through things. Are you really sure it was Ginny? I mean, it could have just been someone who looked similar. I'm not saying that you're lying, but the mind can play tricks on you sometimes. I'd really like to meet up with you sometime. I've missed you._

_Love,_

_Hermione._

_P.S. Maybe you should keep this to yourself for a while, atleast till we work this all out. It would upset Ron so much to hear this from someone else._

She sealed it up and gave it back to Hedwig.

"There you go, I hope he's not too upset."

Hedwig flew off out of the window, and Hermione sat down and read the Daily Prophet. It didn't take long for the reply to come.

_Hermione_

_So, you don't believe me. I shouldn't be surprised, you never had much confidence in me. I am NOT mad. God, I thought you might believe me, it's not like I ever saved your life or anything. Fine, I'll do it on my own. Somehow, I don't think I'm going to want to meet up with you. I have better things to do with my time._

_Harry_

_P.S. I could care less what Ron thinks. _

Hermione put her head in her hands.

"Oh, Harry." she mumbled.


	2. Caught

**I don't own Harry or any of his friends. Go figure.**

Two weeks had past and Hermione was back in the Death Eater Headquarters. She was taking a tray of tea and biscuits into a special meeting of Death Eaters. This was it, she could just feel. She would find something huge out tonight. She stopped in front of the door, and rapped sharply on it.

"I've got some food here, would you like me to bring it in?" she asked fervently hoping they would.

"Yes, bring it in and serve it to us." came the reply.

She turned the handle and came in. In the room were a small number of men, Rookwood, Avery, Crabbe, Goyle... and Draco Malfoy. Hermione started slightly in surprise, but managed to recover herself enough so that she didn't seem suspicious. She walked over to a table and put the tray down. She had her back to the rest of the people in the room, but she could see them in the mirror above the table. She removed the cups and pieces of cutlery as slowly as she could, so that she would have an excuse to stay in the room.

"So, Avery, is there any particular reason you asked me here?" Malfoy drawled.

"Ofcourse." Avery grunted, "You've heard the rumours about the new witch that has joined us, I hope?"

"Indeed, I have. Apparently she is quite powerful."

"She is," Avery whispered, for dramatic effect, "And very interesting, for - many reasons. Would you like to meet her?"

"I would." Malfoy said, leaning in closer.

"And, I would love to introduce the two of you - although you have already met- however, how can I be sure that I can trust you? After all, you sold us at to Harry Potter and his lot. "

"I didn't sell you out, they tortured it out of me. As embarrassing as it is, I simply was not strong enough to hold out against them. But, I have been feeding you information about the Ministry, at my own risk. You can trust me."

Avery thought for a minute, "Okay, I believe you. Goyle, please fetch Selene for me."

Goyle got up clumsily and left the room.

"Girl!" Avery snapped, "Where is my food!"

Hermione quickly tipped a bit of tea onto the tray. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just a little clumsy."

"Idiot." Avery hissed.

The door creaked open again and Goyle re-entered the room with a woman. Malfoy immediately stood up, obscuring Hermione's view in the mirror. She turned, still holding the tray, and walked towards them.

"This, gentlemen," she heard Avery announce, "Is Selene."

Malfoy moved slightly to the left and Hermione had a clear view of the 'Selene' woman.

"Ginny!" she screamed, before she could stop herself. The tray she was holding slipped out of her hands and crashed to the floor. All five of the men turned and looked at her.

"How...?" Rookwood started.

"She's a spy! She said she never got accepted to Hogwarts!" Avery exclaimed, withdrawing his wand from inside his robe. He walked towards her.

"Now, which spell am I going to use? So many to choose from."

"No!" Malfoy said, jumping forward, "Let me. Let me prove myself."

Avery smiled, "Very well, Draco."

Malfoy turned and faced her. He stared at her for a moment, then sighed. He took a few steps towards her, and then spun around.

"Expelliarmus!"

Rookwood's, Avery's, Crabbe's and Goyle's wands flew at of their hands.

"What the hell!" Avery roared.

Malfoy grabbed Hermione's hand and dragged her out of the room. As they left, she desperately looked around for Ginny, but she was nowhere to be seen. They ran down the hallway towards the front door.

"You just had to, didn't you? You had to ruin it, Granger!" Malfoy hissed.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked, dumbstruck.

"I have my sources. Hurry up, they'll catch us in a minute!"

They were almost at the door when one of the Death Eaters shouted out a spell.

"Impedimenta!"

Because they were moving so fast, both Malfoy and Hermione fell headfirst into the floor.

"Go, I'll slow them down." Malfoy whispered to Hermione as she scrambled up. He stood up and before he could stop it, Avery had summoned his wand.

"Accio Malfoy's wand!"

He walked up to Malfoy, apparently confident that there was nothing Malfoy could do to stop him. He stopped short as bright red blood seeped onto his robes.

"What have you done?" he uttered, before he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Malfoy ran to join Hermione as she opened the front door.

"Wandless magic?" she asked.

"Yeah, and it works, I should know."

They ran out into the street and were just beginning to feel that they might get away, when they were surrounded by Auror's.

"Stop where you are!" one of them yelled in a magically enhanced voice.

They halted. A man pushed through the Auror's. He smirked.

"Got you now, Malfoy."

center /center

Ron smiled to himself as Malfoy and the woman were led away. Finally, he'd caught Malfoy red-handed. Now there was no way the Minister could ignore his claims, however much he wanted to.

He, the Aurors and their prisons apparated back to the Ministry.

"Take the woman to Interrogation Room Two, I'll deal with Mr Malfoy."

He grabbed Malfoy by the arm and led him into an Interrogation Room.

"So, _Draco,_ why don't you tell me what exactly you were doing?"

Malfoy stared at him with his cold, grey eyes. "I don't have anything to say to you."

"Don't be stupid Malfoy, if you give up some of your Death Eater friends, them maybe I could cut you a deal, like only thirty years in Azkaban."

Malfoy raised his eyebrows, "Do you really expect me to believe that?"

Ron sighed, and paced the room. "Where is Severus Snape?"

Malfoy looked surprised, "He's dead. Come now Weasel, even you aren't so dense as to have completely missed that. There were articles in every paper about it."

"Yes, I saw the articles, but I don't believe them. Snape is more skilled a wizard than to be caught off guard by a trainee Auror. Anyway, the body was never recovered."

There was a knock at the door, and one of Ron's assistant's came in.

"Sir, the woman we captured is saying she'll only see you."

"So? Tell her to wait."

"Um, I did sir, but she says she has something important to tell."

Ron looked back at Malfoy, "Look's like your little girlfriend is selling you out."

He turned back to his assistant, "If he says anything, get me immediately."

Ron walked out of the room, and down the corridor. As he got to the room that the woman was being held, he heard her yelling.

"I want to see Ronald Bilius Weasley!" he heard her say.

He opened the door, "Here I am, so what was it that couldn't wait till I'd finished with your friend?"

"Get them out of here." she snapped, pointing to the guards.

"Out." he said to the guards. One of them opened their mouth to argue, but Ron cut him off.

"I'll perfectly fine with her, just wait outside the door."

Once the men had gone, he sat down.

"So...?" he started.

"Oh Ron," the woman sighed, "It's been so long."

"What?" he asked, "Do I know you?"

"You don't recognise me, well, I suppose you wouldn't."

Ron stood up again, "Who the hell are you?"

"It's me Ron, Hermione."

Ron gaped at her.

"Look," Hermione continued, "I've been going under cover to see what I could find out about what the Voldemort's former Death Eaters are doing -"

"You did what?" Ron demanded, seemingly coming to his senses.

"It was an assignment and -"

"An assignment, _an assignment?_ You might have ruined everything my team and I have been working on, for a bloody article? I can't believe you, I really can't. I thought you were supposed to be the intelligent one!"

Hermione stood up aswell, the top of her head only coming to Ron's nose.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that, Ron!" she hissed, "I was on to something, something really big. If you could just calm down, then maybe I'll tell you!"

Hermione sat back down, and straightened her robes. Ron stayed standing, breathing heavily in anger. Neither of them said anything at first, they were both still too angry.

"Have you seen Harry lately?" Hermione asked softly, breaking the silence.

"What? No, not for years."

"You should have, we both should have. We've been really bad friends to him."

"He's not my friend anymore, Hermione." Ron said bitterly.

Hermione looked at him, frowning. "I know you blame him, for her death, but it wasn't his fault."

"Yes, it was." Ron said, banging his fist on the table, "She came because of him."

"You didn't blame him for Charlie's death, why not?"

"Because... she loved him, and she followed us because of him, and he should have tried harder to make her leave." he said quietly.

Hermione sighed, "It didn't help, you know, blaming him. He was so cut up about it, and he really needed his best friend, and I tried to be there for him, but it wasn't enough. Have you ever seen a grown man cry? It was horrible."

"Yes, I have. My dad, when he found out about what happened to Ginny. Harry did that, he destroyed our family."

"No, he didn't," Hermione said, "Voldemort destroyed your family, and mine, and Harry's. Anyway, that's what I wanted to tell you. I - I think that Ginny is alive." The last part was barely above a whisper.

"Say that again." Ron said, the merest hint of anger seeping into his voice.

"I was there, at their headquarters, and then she came in. They called her 'Selene' but it was her, it was Ginny."

Ron stared at her, and started to pace the room again. "Why would you say that, why would you lie to me? She's dead, I saw her die."

"There wasn't a body though, was there?" Hermione asked.

"Well, no. It got burnt, just like half of Hogwarts did."

Hermione got up, and walked over to Ron, who was still pacing the floor. She grabbed him by the shoulders, and faced him.

"Ron, we were friends once, and I know somewhere along the line we forgot about that, but one thing you can always be sure of is, I would never lie to you. Everything I told you when I was eighteen still stands. I still... care for you deeply."

Ron looked down at her, and pushed a strand of her frizzy hair away from her face, "I know, I feel the same way."

They stayed like that for a second, just staring at each other, before Ron broke away.

"Well, I'd better go, and do - something. Do you want to get something to drink, just some butterbeer, maybe?" Ron asked, blushing slightly.

"That would be lovely," Hermione smiled.

They walked out of the room and were heading to Ron's office.

"I just have to finish some stuff up, then I should be able to get out of here." Ron paused, "At least we got Malfoy."

He smiled as he started going through his papers.

"Oh, about that. He didn't actually do anything, he was undercover too. He - saved me, strangely enough."

Ron groaned, "So, you're telling me that I got nothing out of this evening?"

"You might have got your sister back, isn't that enough?"

**Thanks to all my reviewer's, but especially KaitsSlytherin. I posted my fic, and then five minutes later your review came through! It made me feel all warm and fuzzy. :)**


	3. Reunion

Ron and Hermione sat at a corner table at The Three Broomsticks. They had talked a little about their lives, but avoided the harder issues.

"We should go and see Harry." Hermione said.

"Yeah, maybe one day." Ron said between gulps of butterbeer.

"No, I think we should do it, like tonight."

"Why?" Ron asked suspiciously.

"Well, she was his girlfriend, and he did see her first."

"What do you mean, 'saw her first'?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you?" Hermione said, sheepishly. "He saw her about a week ago. He wrote to me, and told me, but I didn't believe him."

Ron pulled a face, "Okay, I'll get someone from work to fetch him."

"No, Ron, we have to go ourselves. Remember, his house is unplottable."

"Right. I'll go tomorrow."

"You're not listening to me!" Hermione said, getting steadily more annoyed. "We, both of us, have to go. Otherwise, you won't be able to see the house."

"Wait a minute, I saw that little piece of paper. I can see the house."

"He changed it." Hermione said quietly.

"You mean after Dumbledore's death? I saw the new one too."

"After that. He didn't want anyone to be able to bother him."

"Who's the secret-keeper then?" Ron asked.

"He is."

"And, he let you see it?" Ron said, looking slightly hurt.

"Yes. I think I may have been to only one."

"Okay then," Ron said, standing up, "I'll pay for this, and then we can go get him."

12 Grimmauld Place was completely dark. One could be forgiven for thinking that it was empty. The house had an air about it, an air of death and misery. The only indicator that there was anything alive there was the occasional sigh from the living room. Sitting on the sofa was a young man. His black hair stuck up in all directions, and he had large circles under his eyes. His glasses lay broken on the other side of the room, thrown there in a fit of rage. His clothes hung off, like a man who had not eaten for weeks. The young man sighed again, staring blankly at the wall. There was a knock at the door.

"Harry! Harry, open the door!" a pleasant female voice shouted.

Harry turned his head slightly, the voice was familiar to him. He got up, went to the window and pushed back the grimy net curtain. Standing out side were two people he knew very well, or at least, had known very well, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. They looked worried, they kept shooting glances at each other.

Harry thought back to the letter he had sent Hermione, could that have something to with their sudden arrival? He walked the short distance to the front door and went to open it. At the last moment he faltered. What if they were here for some other reason, he thought. Since the last time they had spoken, Harry had got the distinct impression that Ron had no wish to ever see him again. What if they were here to arrest him? He had heard that Ron was ruthless at catching criminals, and seeing that Ron hated him now, it wasn't out of the realms of possibility that he'd got into his head that Harry had done something. Hermione approached the door again, and Harry didn't move out of the way in time.

"Harry! I can see you, please open the door."

Harry took a deep breathe, it was now or never, he told himself. He opened the door.

Hermione turned to Ron,

"I don't think he's going to-"

"Going to what?" A voice said softly behind her.

"Harry! Oh, it's so good to see you!"

She wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm so sorry for not believing you." she whispered.

He patted her awkwardly on the back, "What do you want?" he asked.

"I need you to come with us, to the Ministry."

Harry pushed her away, "Why?"

"We - we think, I mean we know, we've found Ginny. You were right."

"I - I was right?" Harry stared at her, and then looked over at Ron.

"And he... ?"

"Believes me, yes. So, will you come?"

Harry thought, "Yeah, okay."


	4. Other people's mothers

**Disclaimer: Still not mine. A/N: Sorry this part has taken so long for me to write, I've just started a new college, and everything's up in the air. Enjoy. **

The three of them apparated to the Ministry, despite the fact that Harry felt very uncomfortable there.

"It'll be fine, Harry. Ron needs to check in with work, and besides, what better place to find out information than the Ministry?" Hermione had told him before they apparated.

The first thing he thought when he arrived was that it hadn't changed. At all. It was like the place was in some sort of time warp. The same portraits were on the walls, walls that were the same colour as they had been when he was seventeen. The same faces gawped at him as he walked past, whispering to their neighbours.

"_Is that Harry Potter? I thought he'd left the magical world?"_

Ron glared at his co-workers, forgetting for a second that Harry wasn't his best friend anymore.

"Come on," he said gruffly, "My office is just over there."

Ron's office left much to be desired. There was a desk with a huge stack of papers on it, a filing cabinet and a particularly uncomfortable looking chair. The room itself was little smaller than Arthur Weasley's old office, and if it was possible, even worse maintained. Ron looked at the topmost paper in the stack.

"Great..." he muttered.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"The Minister," he started, a look of disdain on his face, "Wants to _see_ me tomorrow. Apparently I didn't have permission to raid the Death Eater headquarters."

"Death Eaters?" Harry repeated, a definite note of panic in his voice.

"Er, yeah. That's - that's where I saw Ginny." Hermione said nervously.

"_What?_" Harry said in disbelief.

"She was there. I think they may have - brainwashed her or something."

Harry blinked, "How? Why?"

"We don't know anything yet. That's why we need you."

Harry opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the office door opened.

"What the hell are you still doing here?" Ron hissed, before the person had even entered the room. Harry looked around and saw Malfoy standing in the doorway.

"Why wouldn't I be here?" Malfoy asked smugly.

Ron moved over to Malfoy, so that they were facing each other. "I found you at that Death Eater hideout. How can you possibly still be employed here?"

"In case you don't remember, you let me go, _without charges_, so I don't know what you expected. Also, it's rumoured that you weren't even allowed to raid the place, so maybe you should be thinking more about your employment, instead of mine."

Ron gritted his teeth, "Don't push me Malfoy."

"And what are you going to do? If you do try something, you'll be out faster than you can blink. It's hardly a secret that the Minister hates you. I bet you're wishing Scrimgeour hadn't been thrown out now, don't you?"

Malfoy looked over at Harry and Hermione. "So, the trio's back together, is it?"

"Something like that." Harry said sullenly.

"Well, I'm so happy for you." Malfoy said dryly. "I suppose you're here because of Ginny."

Harry looked at him sharply, "How would you know about that?"

"Oh, didn't they tell you, I was there."

Harry's hands tightened into fists, "What?"

Hermione smoothly stepped between the two of them. "I think that's enough."

Malfoy smirked, "The boy-who-lived needs a girl to fight his battles now?"

Hermione pointed her wand at Draco, "Be quiet, unless you want another punch."

Malfoy's face darkened, but he didn't try to speak again.

"Now, I think we need to go somewhere a little more private."

"Where?" Ron asked.

"How about... Your place?"

The Burrow had changed little in the ten years Ginny had been gone. The house was still being held together with spellotape, magic and a prayer. The kitchen, though less the heart of the home as it had been, was the same, the grandfather clock still stood in there, with two of the Weasley children's names blacked out. The garden was even more overgrown than it had been, it was almost impossible to open the backdoor now.

The house itself was falling to pieces, Arthur and Molly simply could not afford to fix all the little problems, and they soon became bigger problems. Fred and George gave their parents a sizeable amount of their money from the joke shop, but they had their own lives to lead, and George had a baby on the way. Percy, of course, ignored the very existence of his family, even though he, Ron and their worked closely together at the Ministry. Bill and Fleur had got married, and were living in France with their two children, after Bill suffered a nervous breakdown because of the war. Meanwhile, Arthur's wage had been cut in half, making it even more difficult for them to keep on top of the bills.

Hermione stepped out of the fire first and into the empty living room. She strode off, calling out to Molly and Arthur. Ron came through next, and finally, Harry.

"I don't know about this." Harry said quietly.

"_You_don't know about it? What about me? You shouldn't be here, not after everything." Ron looked sideways at him, "But when was Hermione ever not the boss of us?" he smiled faintly, and looked away.

"Hermione!" they heard Molly exclaim from the next room, "What are you doing here?"

The two women came back into the living room. Molly didn't notice straight away the young, black-haired man standing by the fireplace.

"Ron, what is going on... Harry?" her eyes widened.

"Harry didn't know where to look. This was the mother of his girlfriend who was supposed to have died because of him, what could he say? He couldn't take back all the pain he had put her, and her whole family, through.

She approached him, her eyes shiny with unshed tears. She put her hand to her mouth.

"Oh Harry, I've missed you so much."

She pulled him in for a hug, and he felt overwhelmed by emotions that weren't hate, or guilt, or angry, but just pure relief.


	5. Planning

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything, in fact, I live in a box.**

"Come sit, Harry dear." Molly ushered him to the squashy old sofa. Ron hovered in the background, with a look that could kill on his face.

"Mum." he said sharply.

"Ron." she replied, "Is there a problem?" the tone of her voice warned him off continuing what he was going to say.

"Nothing." he muttered.

Harry felt his face heat up. Mrs Weasley was treating him like a son even after everything he'd done, and he knew Ron hated that. He could almost feel the anger coming off him in waves.

"So," Molly said, reverting back to her kindly, mothering voice. "Why are you here, not that I'm not thrilled to see you of course."

"Ah." Hermione said, "This might be difficult to everything explain, or at least, hard for you to accept..."

Hermione went on to tell Molly about her having seen Ginny, and how they all thought she was still alive. Ron occasionally said something, but Harry stayed silent. Hearing it again now, it sounded mad. Who would ever believe them?

Molly let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding once they'd finished their recounting of the days events.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"And you really think she's alive?" she asked, looking at each of them in turn. Hermione nodded, and Ron said he trusted Hermione's judgement, for which he was rewarded with a shy smile from her.

"What about you, Harry?" Molly asked again.

Harry looked at the floor. "I - I think I do."

"Then, what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to go in there, and I'm going to get her." Harry stated, standing on one side of the kitchen table.

"Haven't you been listening to us?" Ron said angrily.

"Yes, I have, but there is no other way. And I don't see why you should object to it. It's not like you care whether I live or die!" Harry yelled.

"Calm down, both of you." Hermione ordered. "Harry, Ron does care whether you live or die, even if he won't admit it. Ron, he's going to do it whatever we say."

"Wait, you're siding with him?" Ron asked, gob struck.

"No. I'm just being realistic."

"What if he puts Ginny in more danger?" Ron said.

"More danger than what? Living with a group of Death Eaters."

Ron and Hermione argued for another five minutes, seemingly having forgotten Harry was in the room. It was like, they were alive when they were together. They bounced off each other, and however unlikely it was, they were a perfect fit for each other.

"Come on, Harry. Lets go get what you need, and leave Ron to sulk here on his own."

Hermione stalked off, and Harry followed her out. As he passed Ron, Ron grabbed his arm.

"You better bring her back." he whispered.

"I will." Harry paused, "You'd do the same thing if it was Hermione."

Ron glared at him as he walked off.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Selene sat on her bed, brushing her hair slowly. She was putting off going back downstairs. Narcissa was down there, and she was acting very strangely. She wanted Selene to do her make-up, and Selene just really didn't want to. In the last few months, she'd changed. Her dreams were getting stronger and more frequent, and there was that incident with that man in the street...

Life was so confusing, she felt in a daze most of the time. She'd sit at dinner, and Avery, Narcissa and the rest would be chattering away, and suddenly Selene would be somewhere else, sitting with a different family, round a vastly different dining table. Her world was so very small, every time she picked up a newspaper, someone would take it from her, and she rarely left the house. It was bad enough that she couldn't remember her childhood, now she could barely remember what had happened the day before. Avery said it was a symptom of the injury she had sustained when her parents died. What that injury was, she couldn't recall.

Apparently, she had attended Durmstrang and had been their most promising young Death Eater. Selene stood up, and assessed her reflection in the mirror. She ran a hand through her vibrant red hair. She didn't feel evil, she didn't feel anything. In everything she did, she felt strangely detached. She took no pleasure from watching people suffer, but neither did she object to it. She didn't laugh at jokes, or ever smile. It was like being stuck, between life and death, heaven and hell, here and there. Where ever there was. She heard Narcissa call her name.

"Selene, darling. Where are you?"

She left her room, and descended the staircase.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Arthur paced the room. He had arrived home from a quite horrible day at the Ministry, and had been met with the sight of Harry and Ron have a yelling match in the living room. He was surprised to see Harry, he hadn't seen him since... everything had happened. Molly had quickly bustled him out of the room, and had told him what was going on. It was too much to take in.

Harry was planning on sneaking in, and effectively kidnapping this woman who may or may not be Ginny Weasley. How could she be? Wouldn't someone have seen her in the last ten years, it didn't seem likely she could have lived under their noses all this time. It was pretty obvious, though, that there was no talking Harry out of it. He had that slightly possessed look about him, the he had had when he been tracking He-who-must-not-be-named down. There was no stopping, or talking to him when he was like this.

Hermione had gone through the plan a dozen times. Harry would, wearing his invisibility cloak which he handily kept with him at all times, go into the Death Eater Headquarters and get Ginny. It wasn't a great plan, or even a good one, just about a million things could go wrong. If someone caught him, that would be it. Harry refused to let anyone come with him, he was afraid someone else would get hurt, Hermione thought. He didn't seem to understand that, she at least, was willing to do what it took to get Ginny back. She'd been a terrible friend, and it was time to make up for that.

"Are you sure you won't let me come, Harry?"

Harry shook his head sadly. "I'm sure. Look, Hermione, I know what I'm doing is incredibly dangerous,"

He shot Ron, who was standing on the other side of the room fuming, a withering look. "But I need to do this, maybe I'm being selfish, but if I could find her, I might be able to stop tormenting myself. I don't know..." He trailed off, studying shoes with faux interest.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried, wrapping her arms around him. "There's nothing for you to torment yourself about, Ginny loved you, you couldn't have stopped her from following you. She was as stubborn as you, that's why you were perfect for each other."

She pushed him back slightly, "I want you to know, there was no excuse for how I ignored you all these years. You're my best friend, and I forgot that - we all forgot that, and I'm sorry." Hermione breathed in deeply, "Let's find Ginny."


	6. Escape

The Death Eater Headquarters was dank, shabby building from the outside, not unlike 12 Grimmauld Place. It was unplottable, so that nobody could find it, but whenever Muggles passed close to it, an inexplicable chill ran down their spines. The building itself was in located in a rundown street in the East End.

Harry, Hermione, Ron, Molly and Arthur apparated a couple of streets away. Hermione pulled out a small piece of parchment. She handed it to Harry.

"Read this, then you'll be able to see the building."

Harry frowned, "Don't these things burst into flames after you look at them? How did you get this?"

"Crabbe gave it to me, and he forgot to destroy it. He only remembered a week after, at which point I promised him I'd already got rid of it." Hermione smirked.

Harry quickly read it and handed back to her. "Okay, I - I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Wait for me here for half an hour, after that, just go. Most likely if I get caught, they'll search for anyone else, and I don't any of you to get hurt because of me."

"We won't." Hermione promised quietly.

Harry crouched outside of the door of the Headquarters, hidden by his invisibility cloak. He had to wait until someone opened the door, so he could sneak in undetected. After five minutes of waiting in the freezing cold, a man knocked on the door, and when it was opened, Harry quickly ducked in. He came straight into a magnificent hallway. The floors were bare boards, covered with thick red rugs. The ceilings were impossibly high, and chandeliers hung there, glittering like stars in the night sky.

'Must be the Malfoy fortune' Harry thought. After the end of the war, Lucious had been caught and thrown back into Azkaban, but since the Ministry couldn't prove Draco or Narcissa's involvement, the Malfoy's money was safe. And because of Draco's apparent brilliance in business, it had only grown.

'_This is not the time to start thinking about_' Harry silently berated himself.

He crept to the living room, which appeared to hold all the members of the household. There were standing in tight groups, talking intently. They were surreptitiously glancing at the fireplace. They were waiting for something. Or, more likely, someone. The roaring fire flared green, and everyone jumped back a couple of paces. Avery, followed by Crabbe and Goyle, stepped out. Behind them, others started pouring out, but Harry couldn't see who it was, because everyone around suddenly surged forward again. There was a screech of joy that could only be from Narcissa, and as she pushed through the crowd, Harry got to see a man step out of the flames. He had pale blond hair, tattered robes and held a cane. It was, without a doubt, Lucius Malfoy. He had escaped from the supposed most secure prison in the wizarding world, and so, it seemed, had all the other convicted Deatheaters. Narcissa was all over him, holding on to his robes, kissing him, and generally being pathetic. She turned and shrieked in the directions of the stairs;

"Selene! Come down here! Someone wants to meet you!"

Harry's heart was in his mouth. He ran as fast as he dared to the staircase, and got there just in time to see a pair of delicate feet descend the stairs. then he saw her torso, and then... He saw her. And it _was_ her. She as beautiful as he remembered. Her hair hung down below her shoulders, and from beneath it, he could see her large brown eyes. They had a hollow look to them, something Harry was familiar with, but he knew if he could just get to her, he could bring life back to those beautiful eyes. She was on the landing now, tantalisingly close to him, and it was all he could do not to cry out. She was soon swallowed up by the growing sea of people. Harry could hear the rejoiced cries of the Deatheaters happy to have their leader back. It was over half an hour before Ginny emerged from the room alone. Harry crept up silently behind her, and withdrew his wand from his robes. He pointed it at her shakily.

"Stupefy!" he whispered.

It hit her squarely in the back, and she fell face first onto the floor. It wouldn't be long before someone came to retrieve her, and with that in mind, Harry darted forward and dragged her up right. He covered them both with his cloak as best he could, and started towards the door. He heard someone come out into the hallway.

"Selene!" Narcissa's singsong voice called.

Harry remained perfectly still, a few yards from the front door.

Unfortunately, Ginny decided to stir at that moment, and groaned softly.

"Cissy..."

Harry clamped his hand over her mouth, but Narcissa had already heard.

"Avery!" she yelled, "Someone has kidnapped Selene!"

Harry raced to the door, holding on to his cloak desperately, and yanked the door open.

He ran out of the front garden like a bat out of hell, and turned down the street. He ran and ran, 'til he got to where he'd left the Weasley's and Hermione. Ron's head popped up from behind a bush.

"Harry! Over here!"

Harry vaulted over the bush and landed between Ron. Hermione, Arthur and Molly.

"Apparate," he gasped, "Burrow."

A loud crack filled the air, and within a minute there were in the Weasley's sitting room.

"I thought - you said - you'd leave." Harry said, between breaths.

"We lied." Hermione said, grinning.

Ron looked speechless, as he stared down at a shocked Ginny.

"Mate..." he said softly.

Quite without warning, he pulled Harry into hug, "I'm so sorry, about everything I said."

Harry couldn't help but smile.


	7. Hogwarts

**Disclaimer: Oh god, don't you know it by now?**

Molly's hand shook as she pushed a strand of hair from Ginny's face. Ginny looked like a deer caught in the headlights, she was trying to pull away from them, but the effects of the spell Harry had hit her with hadn't fully worn off yet.

"We should take her to Hogwarts," Arthur seriously, "Heaven knows what they've done to her."

They all agreed that was Hogwarts was the only place they could safely go, Lucius would already have spies posted in St Mungo's. Hermione got a handful of floo powder ready.

"Come on, Ginny," Molly pleaded, "You can trust us."

"You - you aren't my family," she croaked, staring at them one at a time, "I want to go _home_."

Molly's eyes filled with tears, "Please, honey -"

"Mrs Weasley," Hermione interrupted, "We need to get to somewhere safer, it won't take long before they work out who took Ginny."

"We're going to have to do this now." Harry said, as he bent down and scooped Ginny up. She tried to struggle out of his grip, but Harry was to strong for her.

"Hermione, throw it in now."

Hermione threw some floo powder into the fireplace, and quickly jumped out of the way.

"Hogwarts," Harry said, and after a moment, "Professor McGonagall's office."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

He stepped in, and felt the familiar sense of spinning. Hundreds of grates rushed past him, and in no time at all, he was stumbling out at the other end. It took a couple of minutes for him to right himself, because of the extra weight of carrying Ginny. He looked around the office, there was hardly any difference to when it had been Dumbledore's.

He stepped away from the fire, and gently put Ginny into an armchair. He knelt down by it.

"Ginny, I need you to stay here. The others will be here soon."

"I -" she started, but was cut off by what sounded like a battle cry. Harry jumped back, and pulled out his wand, as a vision in tartan tore into the room.

"Put your wand _down_!" she yelled.

He dropped his wand, who knew what McGonagall would do without her glasses on!

"Professor, it's me!" he said, holding his hands up.

"Who - Potter?" McGonagall pulled her spectacles out of her dressing gown pocket, and slipped them on.

"What, may I ask, are you doing standing in my office in the middle of the night?"

Harry opened his mouth, when a green light briefly lit the room, and three redheads, and a bushy haired woman fell out in quick succession.

"Miss Granger? Mr Weasley? What is - ?" McGonagall's gaze fell on Ginny, huddled in a squashy armchair.

"Okay, I need someone to explain everything to me, right now."

As usual, Hermione took control in explaining the last week's events. The headmistress sat down, and said nothing throughout the explanation. It seemed like she was in shock.

"Professor?" Harry said after she had been silent for a minute or two.

She appeared to snap out of it, "Yes, Potter?"

"Uh, are you all right?"

"Of course I am." She stood up with her usual grace, and walked over to Ginny."

"Miss Weasley? How do you feel?" she said softly.

Ginny looked up sharply. "My name is Selene Dubois, I do not know who this Ginny person is." she tried her hardest to say this with conviction, but the look in her eyes revealed a world of doubt.

"I think we should take her up to hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey should take a look at her." Hermione said seriously, glancing around at the others.

"I agree." McGonagall said quietly, as she moved away from Ginny. "But, we must be careful, if she truly believes she is a Death Eater, then we don't know what she might do."

Arthur helped Ginny up, and led her out of the room.

"Ron," Harry said, before they left the room, "There's something else. Uh, Lucius Malfoy and some other Death Eaters broke out of Azkaban tonight."

Ron pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perfect... I'll contact the Ministry."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Madam Pomfrey could not find anything physically wrong with Ginny, in fact, she was in perfect health. Her mental state, however, was somewhat more questionable.

She pulled Mr and Mrs Weasley to one side. "Molly, Arthur, I'm sorry to say this, but your daughter has been brainwashed. I have seen this sort of thing on occasion, although not to this extent. It is done with a combination of oblivation spells, and powerful potions. I'm afraid I can't say how long it will take to undo this."

"But, you _can_ undo it?" Molly asked nervously.

"In time... Maybe. I wouldn't like to make any promises."

Molly thanked the school nurse, and went back to watching her newly found daughter. Ginny sat with her arms around her knees on the bed, refusing to eat or let anyone touch her. She kept her eyes downcast, except for when she thought no one was looking, then she would stare at each of them, as if trying to size them up. Molly felt Arthur gently take her hand.

"Come on, let's help our daughter."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Selene didn't want to talk. She didn't want to hear that she wasn't who she thought she was. She didn't want to have these strangers clustered around, trying to get her to say something. Where was Narcissa? Why wasn't someone coming to get her? The old couple were watching her, she could feel their eyes on her. Well, she wouldn't give them the satisfaction of looking back at them. There was one person who interested her. Harry Potter. He was standing with the young redheaded man, and brown-haired woman, and she couldn't help but want to watch him. His mannerisms seemed familiar to her. The way he fiddled with his glasses, and smoothed his hair down. He did that when he was nervous or worried, she knew, although she didn't know how she knew that. He was coming over to her. She quickly looked away, and pretended to be disinterested.

Harry left Ron and Hermione to try and talk to Ginny.

"So, have you owled your brother?" Hermione asked Ron.

"Yeah, Fred and George will be here soon, and Bill needs to sort some things out at home first." Ron answered distractedly.

"You do have another brother, you know."

"Do I?" Ron said, sounding vaguely angry.

"Come on, Ron. I know he hurt you, but she's still his sister." Hermione said gently.

"He didn't just hurt me, he _betrayed_ me. He betrayed all of us, he ignored his family, and he still does. Did you know, dad's salary has been cut in half? That was his doing." Ron finished bitterly.

Hermione didn't know what to say. It was all true. She didn't know that she would be able to forgive a relative that, either.

"Anyway," Ron said, "I'm sure the _Minister_ has better things to do with his time."


	8. The Minister

"Narcissa." Lucius said coldly from the doorway. Narcissa turned from her dressing table. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and her face, tear-soaked.

"What?" she asked, dabbing her face with a tissue. Lucius moved swiftly across the room , till he was directly in front of her. He tilted her head up with his forefinger.

"_How_ could you have lost her!" he yelled.

Narcissa bit her quivering lip. "I-I don't know-"

"She was going to shift the balance of power! _She_ was going to break Potter!"

Lucius paced Narcissa's quarters angrily.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, "I did everything I could to keep her safe!"

Lucius studied one of the many portraits with faux interest.

"Our son? He was our double agent. How could he let this happen?"

"They - they didn't tell you?" Narcissa stammered.

"Tell me what?" he hissed, his back still turned to her.

"He... betrayed us." she whispered.

"AGAIN!" Lucius roared, swinging back towards her. Narcissa shrank back against the wall. Lucius ignored her and strode to the door in all but two steps.

"What will you do?" she called meekly.

"What it takes." he answered.

**oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Fred and George entered the Hospital room, closely followed by Bill.

"So, little bro, what was so important that you had to get us out of our beds in the middle night for?"

Ron jumped up from the bed he was sitting on with Hermione.

"Hermione?" Fred exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear, "Been a while."

"It has." Hermione agreed, standing up.

Curtains had been drawn around the bed at the far end, and cries could be heard from behind them.

"You can't keep me here!" a woman yelled.

Before George could even ask what was going on, a flurry of red streaked past them, followed by a flurry of black.

"What the hell...?" Bill muttered, as he was shoved out of the way.

Harry chased Ginny out of the Hospital Wing, and down the hallway.

"Ginny!" he yelled, "Stop!"

The years of Quidditch practice hadn't been lost on Harry, and he easily caught up with Ginny, even though she had had a head start. He grabbed her round the legs, and they both went down in a heap on the floor. Ginny struggled under him 'til she was on her back, nose to nose with Harry.

"Why are you keeping me here?" she asked, between gasps of breath.

"Because you belong here, you just don't remember that yet."

Ginny stared at him hard. _The man of her dreams_... Quite literally.

"You really believe it, don't you? That I'm this girl you knew?"

"I know it, I know you're her." he said quietly, moving his hand up to touch her face.

Ginny flinched involuntarily, but didn't try to stop him. His hands felt rough and familiar against her smooth, flawless skin. She looked into his vibrant green eyes.

"How can this be true? How can I have a whole other life that I don't remember? This -"

Her words were swept away by the thundering of footsteps and voices. Harry sat up slowly, and pulled her with him. Ginny's four brothers, and Hermione stood before them. Fred, George and Bill all had looks of abject shock on their faces. Ginny jumped up quickly, smoothing her hospital gown down.

Her brothers stood, staring open-mouthed at her.

"What... What...?" Bill stammered.

Ron jumped in front of him, "Let me explain."

Fred shook his head in disbelief, "No way, how could we not have known, it's mental."

Ron smiled, "It is. Doesn't stop it from being true though."

Fred shook his head again, and looked to his brothers. "Well boys, I guess we have some catching up to do."

Ginny and Harry sat on her hospital bed, "How do you feel?" he asked her.

"About what?"

"Everything."

"I don't know..." Ginny rubbed her face with her hands, "It's all so confusing. I mean, I've got these vague memories of parents who died and attending Durmstrang, but then I'm here, and this seems more real than anything I've ever experienced. But, on the other hand, Narcissa told me that my condition might make me hallucinate and that I had long term memory problems. I don't know," she repeated.

Harry reached out and took her hand gently, "This is real, you can believe me. Do you believe me?"

Ginny looked down at their clasped hands, "Yes," she looked up, "I do."

Harry grinned. "Good."

The Weasley's and Hermione came over to them, and their tenuous link was broken. Ginny pulled back, and put her hands in her lap. Molly and Arthur were back from talking with Professor Mcgonagall.

"Minerva says that - that there have been attacks in the last hour."

"What!" Harry jumped up, "Where, who?"

Molly sighed, "Ottery St Catchpole. It was... muggles who were attacked. By suspected Death Eaters."

"Oh Merlin," Hermione muttered. "They're looking for us."

"For me." Ginny intoned.

Harry squeezed her shoulder, "It's not your fault."

"Really? Seems like it is." Ginny ran a hand through her bright red hair. "I caused this."

"No. Harry is right," Ron said, glancing at Harry. "This is not your fault. They did this to you, they took you from us, brainwashed you. You can't take responsibility for the actions of other people. Especially people like _them_."

Hermione looked at Ron, with something like admiration in her eyes. for a moment, it seemed like she was going to say something, but she didn't. The doors banged open at the other end of the hospital wing, and the nine of them looked around. A nervous wizard in sensible grey robes shuffled in, followed by a man in long red robes that matched his hair.

"I was told I was needed. Please make it quick, there is a situation forming at the ministry." his smug voice carried across the room, and everyone blinked at him.

"Isn't that the Minister?" Ginny whispered, leaning over to Harry.

"Yes," he replied, "And, he's also your brother."

Percy strode over to the group as Ginny slid off the bed and stood up.

"Do I have to ask again..."

He stopped in his tracks, "What is this? Is this some kind of joke?" he turned his glare to Ron.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Talking to my sister, Mr Minister." Ron answered bitterly.

"Percy..." Molly said quietly.

"It's Percival, mother."

"Hey, don't be rude to mum." Fred said, stepping in front of Percy.

The tension was palpable in the room, all eyes on Percy. Ginny coughed, drawing attention to herself. She pushed past her brothers.

"It _is_ me, Percy." she said.

Percy regarded her, "How...?"

"It's a long story." she replied, smiling slightly.


End file.
